MR MONK AND THE MOSH PIT
by XFilesIBelieve
Summary: Monk and Sharona investigate a murder at a punk rock concert.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to USA Network, everything! Except for my story, it's mine! All mine! BWAHA HAHAHA HA!!!  
  
MR. MONK AND THE MOSH PIT  
  
---CLUB TWISTERS---  
  
Marvin Sneeds pushed his way through the sold out crowd for his favorite energetic slash melodic punk band. He felt his glasses fogging up, the air was so hot with all the sweaty people rocking out. He took them off and quickly rubbed them with his shirt-sleeve.  
  
He suddenly felt himself shoved by a girl with hot pink hair. He bumped into a large guy with a shaved head and more earrings in his ear than he could count. He mumbled a "sorry" and backed away. The guy gave him a dirty look.  
  
"Wanna start trouble, buddy?" the guy sneered.  
  
"No, nah man. Course not." Marvin felt his face flush.  
  
"Marvin was the kid of guy no one would notice even if he stepped in front of a bus on a crowded street. No, the only way anyone would notice him was if he did something personally to them. Of course it was always an accident but no one ever saw it his way. He was an accident to humankind, he thought sadly.  
  
"Hey, you!" Someone shouted at Marvin from behind him. Thinking it couldn't be him, he didn't know a soul here, he didn't turn around. But the voice persisted.  
  
"HEY, YOU!"  
  
Marvin turned around and at this point his glasses had just started to fog up again. He squinted and walked towards the voice. All he could see was a haze. A faint outline of a man, he thought.  
  
"Yes?" He asked still squinting.  
  
His glasses were so fogged up now he couldn't see anything.  
  
Suddenly he felt a sharp gasping pain in his gut as the figure rushed into him with a knife.  
  
He tried to shout but his stomach muscles were in too much pain. He sank down on the crowded dance floor. The other punk rockers were oblivious that anything had happened and continued jumping in time to the music.  
  
---THE NEXT DAY, CLUB TWISTERS---  
  
Monk walked carefully around the debris from the previous night's concert. Capt. Stottlemeyer surveyed the scene as well, motioning for the other officers to stand back. Sharona was on stand-by with a fresh pack of wet wipes handy.  
  
Suddenly Monk lifted up his shoe to see a huge hunk of pink bubble-gum stuck to the bottom. He made a whimpering sound and held his foot up in the air.  
  
"Sharoooonaaa," he whined.  
  
"Just scrape it off, Adrian," she replied smugly knowing he wouldn't. He gave her a look that could melt steel.  
  
"Ok, ok," she said walking over to him. He was holding his foot about two feet off the ground and was starting to lose his balance. She gingerly wiped the gum off of his shoe.  
  
After the incident, Monk only stood in one place to survey the dance floor.  
  
"Captain?" he called.  
  
"What Monk?"  
  
"About what time was the time of death?" Monk asked.  
  
"What? I can't hear you Monk, you'll have to come over here!" The Captain shouted over the hum of officers talking.  
  
"No,. . . that's ok," Monk replied, "I'll just. . . stand right here."  
  
"Adrian, what are you doing?" Sharona asked bewildered, "We need to know this kind of stuff."  
  
"Yeah, uh I know. I just don't want to move from this spot. There could be more-more gum on the floor. Nah, I'll just stay here. I'll be fine." He responded.  
  
Sharona threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine! I'll go talk to him."  
  
"Gee thanks, thank you Sharona. Keep up the good work!" Monk called after her.  
  
She returned a few moments later, "Ok, time of death was about 10:35 p.m., right about when the main band was on."  
  
Monk nodded, "Ok, let's go talk to them."  
  
---WITH THE BAND---  
  
Monk and Sharona headed into the lounge area in the back of Twisters to talk to the band. The four guys were seated in a couple of cozy leather armchairs, their feet propped up, looking quite relaxed.  
  
They were dressed in the most punked-out fashion possible. One guy had neon green hair in spikes so long they looked like knives. Another guy had so many piercings all over his face, you'd wonder how he could get through a metal detector. And another was wearing a black fishnet t-shirt with outrageously pink plaid pants. The final guy was wearing several spike chokers that looked ready to stab someone and he had enough bracelets on his arms to resemble a gypsy.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" the guy with the green hair said.  
  
Monk froze.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sharona whispered.  
  
"I-I can't go in there," he replied looking like a deer in headlights.  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
"I-I just can't. I have to g. . go NOW," he said and turned towards the door.  
  
"Hey, you're shaking." Sharona realized, "Don't worry, it's ok. They won't hurt you, they just look tough."  
  
"Na. . . nah, you go. I'll just wait out here." He said.  
  
"You're the detective here , not me" Sharona pointed out.  
  
"Oh. . . oh yeah. Right. Well I'll just come back then. . . someday. . .maybe not. . ." He started inching towards the door.  
  
Sharona latched onto his arm, "Let's go." She said firmly and dragged him inside.  
  
"Whoa!" Monk cried as he stumbled in. The guys all stared at him. Monk carefully straightened his suit and twitched his neck to the side.  
  
"My. . my name is Adrian Monk. And this," he turned to face Sharona, "is my assistant Sharona Fleming. We just. . . want to ask you some questions. About last night."  
  
"Hey Baby," the guy with the pink pants nodded to Sharona. Sharona rolled her eyes. Monk looked disgusted.  
  
"Um, anyways, who's the singer?" Monk asked.  
  
The guy with the piercings raised his hand.  
  
"Figures" Monk muttered, "Uh did you see anything happen last night? Any fights break out?"  
  
"You mean more than usual? Nah man. Everything seemed cool. We really rocked last night, the crowd loved us," the singer replied, "Hey you should come check us out tonight," he suggested.  
  
Monk looked apprehensive.  
  
"Uh, I don't know. . . about that," he began.  
  
Sharona nudged him, "C'mon Adrian. You'll be right there if anything happens again. How much closer to the case can you get?"  
  
Monk considered, "Well okay. We'll be here. What time does the show start?"  
  
"Well it starts at 10," the singer explained, "But we don't go on until 11. Our opening band goes first, Wink 242."  
  
"Ten?" Monk squeaked, "At night?"  
  
"Uh yeah," the guy with the chokers replied looking at Monk funny.  
  
"D-don't you people ever sleep?" Monk protested.  
  
The pink pants guy laughed, "Nah, not really."  
  
"Don't worry about it" Sharona whispered to him, she said aloud to the band, "we'll be there."  
  
"Great," the singer replied winking at Sharona.  
  
She sighed and turned towards Monk. He looked like he was in a daze.  
  
"I. . . I have to stay up late?" he whimpered.  
  
Sharona sighed again, "Yes, my goodness what time do you go to bed?"  
  
"Eleven."  
  
"Well so what? It's an extra hour or two you'd have to stay up. Big deal," she answered.  
  
"Big deal? BIG DEAL?? This throws off my entire nightime routine! Everything all gone to pieces! All gone!" He sobbed into his shirt-sleeve.  
  
Sharona stared at him, "Ya know Adrian, I have to say you certainly are never boring."  
  
He continued whining about his situation.  
  
"C'mon," she said grabbing his arm, "let's go put your house in order so we won't have to mess up your -" she held her hands up for quotation marks, " 'routine' tonight." 


	2. Ch2

----THAT NIGHT: PRE-SHOW---  
  
Monk had insisted they arrive super early so he could investigate better.  
  
"You know just because we're getting here early doesn't mean the band's going to finish any earlier," Sharona pointed out.  
  
"I know that," Monk said looking like he still had hope in that theory.  
  
The band was unloading their instruments onto the stage, leaving guitars and amps scattered along with pieces of the drum kit everywhere. Monk walked over and looked at the bass drum which had the band's name printed on it in large block letters- THE NAKED PUPPET. Underneath the name was a small adequately proportioned drawing of a naked puppet.  
  
Monk choked, "Ahh! Oh geez!"  
  
Sharona rushed over, "What's wrong?"  
  
Unable to speak in his disgust Monk just pointed.  
  
"Oh the name?" Sharona said.  
  
"Yes. . . t-that . . . I mean who names a band THAT? What kind of . . . " Monk cried as he broke off.  
  
Sharona laughed, "I've seen a lot worse Adrian. Names containing specific parts of the body if you know what I mean."  
  
Monk just shook his head, "I just don't want to know. . ."  
  
"Names that describe body functions," Sharona teased him.  
  
"Oh gosh Sharona, stop please," Monk cringed.  
  
"Names that describe bowel movements and regurgitation and -"  
  
"STOP! Please!" Monk held his hands to his ears.  
  
"Ok, ok" Sharona said chuckling at him. "Look why don't you walk around for a bit? I'm going to hit the ladies room."  
  
Monk nodded, "Ok but be careful, you can pick up at least 53 different diseases in a place like this," he said seriously.  
  
Sharona smiled, "I'll be sure to wipe my hands on you after I'm done then."  
  
Monk gave her a dirty look and then started walking around. The drum pieces all over the floor were starting to bother him. He started arranging them to his liking. One tom on each side of the stage. A crash symbol here and there for decoration. The snare drum at the back of the stage. And the bass drum smack in the middle.  
  
"Excuse me!" A loud voice said.  
  
Monk looked up from admiring his work and saw the green-haired spiky head guy running over to him.  
  
"Dude! What are you doing?" he demanded.  
  
"Uh. . . I was just arranging the set here, it looks much better now," Monk replied.  
  
"Much better? Much better?! You've arranged my set into the four corners of the earth!"  
  
"B-but it looks nice," Monk said.  
  
The guy threw up his hands in frustration. "Just. . . just don't touch anything else. I mean it," he said glaring at Monk.  
  
"Adrian!" Sharona saw him from behind the wings and came out. "Are you getting into trouble again?"  
  
"N-no I was only-" he began.  
  
"Oohmygosh, I leave you alone for like two minutes and you're already making people hate you. Usually it takes at least an hour," Sharona hissed at him. She turned to the drummer and apologized profusely, "I am SO sorry. Forgive him, he knows not what he does."  
  
She turned to Adrian, "C'mon Sherlock, we've created enough trouble here," she said dragging him away.  
  
"I-I wasn't doing anything wrong!" he protested.  
  
""No, you were just born," she replied.  
  
Monk looked really hurt.  
  
Sharona saw his face and patted his back, "Oh, I'm just kidding. There, there. I'm glad you were born," she said sincerely. "My life would never have been this exciting without you."  
  
Monk looked rather pleased and smiled at her. "Let's go up into the light booth. I can see better up there," he suggested.  
  
"Yes, I have a feeling we'll be outta-the way" Sharona answered as they backed up against a wall to avoid getting run over by enormous amps being wheeled by.  
  
Monk suddenly grabbed Sharona's hand and held it in his. She looked down surprised to see his warm strong hand gently grasping her smaller hand.  
  
He didn't say anything, just gave her one of those awesome and rarely seen smiles of his and led the way to the booth.  
  
-------------- --------------------  
  
From the light booth Monk was able to see much better the stage and audience area. The club was beginning to fill up rapidly as well and Monk was glad to be away from all those weird-looking people with the spiky hair and chains.  
  
While Sharona was chatting with the light board operator, Monk took a look around at the vast area of buttons, switches, and mixer controls.  
  
Those couple of switches. They were sticking out.  
  
Some were set at FULL for the house lights. But a couple of others were up and down at different settings.  
  
It was starting to bother him.  
  
He craned his neck to the left. His itchy finger reached out and he was about to touch the switches when suddenly the light board operator moved over.  
  
"Just got word over the headphones. Show's starting," he told them and moved to the board to bring the house lights down.  
  
Now the switches were all over the board as the operator pushed up a couple.  
  
Monk couldn't help himself. He moved the far right switch up to meet the one on its left. The operator had turned back to talking to Sharona and wasn't paying any attention. Monk took note of the two of them getting quite cozy and felt a jealous streak rush through him. He wished she'd put her arm around his shoulder the way she was doing with that guy.  
  
But the board had his full attention at the moment. He moved the next couple of switches up to match the far right one.  
  
Down below, the opening act Wink 242 looked up in amazement as their stage lighting turned from cool blue accents and strobe effects to a bright lemon yellow and orange look a la K.C. and the Sunshine Band.  
  
The stage manager quickly notified the board operator who swung around in his chair and looked down at the stage, horrified.  
  
Sharona ran over, "Adrian! WHAT have you done now?"  
  
Monk was still "fixing" the switches and now the lighting changed to extremely white-hot bright light.  
  
The crowd murmured confused. The band groaned and covered their eyes from the bright intensity of the lights.  
  
Monk looked up from his work, "Um, I j-just had to f-fix a few things. That's all."  
  
The operator looked at him as he tried desperately to re-set things, "Dude, you messed up all my cues!"  
  
"I-I'm sorry," Monk replied, "I thought it would be helpful to have the switches lined up. You know, so it was more organized."  
  
The operator glared at him, "GET OUT," he said steely.  
  
------------ ----------------  
  
"Great, you got us kicked out of the best seat in the house," Sharona snapped at him.  
  
"Well, so sorry. But I'm not any happier down here either," Monk replied.  
  
He suddenly bumped into a crowd of screaming punk-rocker guys. One guy had his tongue pierced and the ring continued through his tongue and came out his chin, ending in a stud.  
  
Monk looked sick.  
  
"What?" Sharona asked.  
  
Monk shook his head slowly, "HOW. . . is that. . . possible??"  
  
Sharona grimaced as she saw what he was talking about. "Some things are just better off not knowing about," she replied and steered him in the other direction.  
  
Several audience members kept flinging themselves in their path, as they were totally oblivious to anything but rocking to the music. Some girl had a choker with spikes so long they poked into Monk's shoulder.  
  
He yelped and stepped backward almost knocking Sharona over.  
  
"Geez, what's wrong?" She asked as Monk's body was suddenly pressed very closely to her chest.  
  
He took a moment to respond as he stared down into her eyes, lost in them. She had such beautiful eyes, they seemed to be looking right through him. His face felt flushed, "Uh..n-nothing. My fault."  
  
They continued meandering through the crowd. A whole group of teens were flinging around glowsticks through the air and one almost clocked Adrian in the eye.  
  
He held back his screams of panic as the space between him and the other audience members narrowed to about an inch and a half. Monk held his arms up to his chest in a protection stance.  
  
A guy inched by with so many dyed colors in his hair, Monk had to stop and count them. He happened to stop right in between two girls facing each other, dancing. Suddenly Monk realized one of the girls was trying to dance with him. She put her arms around his neck and started swaying her hips.  
  
Monk tried to scream. Sharona had disappeared.  
  
"Hey, you're kinda cute," the girl said smacking her gum. "A little stiff but cute."  
  
"Yeah," the other girl replied smiling at him sexily. "My turn next," she winked at him.  
  
"Nice costume by the way," the girl dancing with him said referring to his suit.  
  
"Cc.costume?" Monk said feeling terror rise in him; he yelled as loud as he could which wasn't that audible due to the increasing noise coming from Wink 242.  
  
"Sharona!"  
  
Suddenly she appeared and started laughing when she saw his predicament.  
  
"Sharona!" He whined, "Help me!!"  
  
"Oh well it looks like you're a little busy, I'll come back later," she smirked and pretended to walk away.  
  
"WAIT!" Monk squeezed his way out of the girls grasps and ran over to her. "You just left me!" he protested looking upset.  
  
"Aw Adrian, I'm sorry. I won't leave you again," Sharona replied taking hold of his hand.  
  
He smiled at her touch and grasped her hand tightly. Overcome by something, perhaps the need for someone familiar, he brought her hand to his mouth and gently kissed it.  
  
Sharona looked caught off-guard. "T-thanks."  
  
Monk nodded and looked away quickly.  
  
Sharona started bobbing her head to the music, "Ya know, this stuff is kinda catchy."  
  
Monk looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you talking about? It's just noise!" He shouted over the din as they began to unwillingly get closer to the Empire State Building sized speakers.  
  
"What??" Sharona shouted back, "WHAT BOYS?!"  
  
"No, no!" Monk shook his head, "Too much NOISE!"  
  
"WHAT?!! I don't have any TOYS!!" She replied looking confused.  
  
Monk gave up after that. Finally they were able to get away from the speakers. Monk rubbed his ears hoping he didn't have permanent ear damage.  
  
"Why doesn't somebody just murder somebody already?" Monk said irritatedly. The crowds and the noise were bothering him but there was something else too. For some reason he felt like he wanted to be alone with Sharona. He felt like he always had to share her with someone. She was HIS nurse for crying out loud.  
  
"What's with you?" Sharona said looking at him, "That's a terrible thing to say."  
  
"Well if something would happen, I could solve the murder and we could go home," he explained looking more uncomfortable in his environment with every passing minute. He had let go of Sharona's hand and was grasping his shoulders.  
  
"Hey, it'll be okay," Sharona said tenderly and suddenly she had put an arm around his shoulders and laid her head down on him.  
  
Monk swallowed, Sharona was so close to him. He wished they were at her house away from the noise, just him and her. Maybe her making cocoa especially for him with exactly eight marshmallows. And maybe sitting with her on her couch. . . maybe closer than usual.  
  
A couple of punk girls walked up to him, interrupting his daydream. A girl with neon orange spiky hair stepped up, "We heard you were looking for some information about that murder the other night?"  
  
Monk perked up at this and said, "Yes I am. What can you tell me? Where you here that night?"  
  
"Whoa there Curly," she said laughing.  
  
Monk twitched his head to the side at the nickname.  
  
"We gotta talk somewhere else," the girl replied.  
  
Suddenly Sharona's cell phone went off. She answered it and pulled it away from her ear, "Adrian, it's Stottlemeyer. I'm going to have to go outside, I can't hear a thing. Will you be alright? Just for a moment?" She asked concerened.  
  
Monk felt warmed by the fact that she cared. "I'll be f-fine," he said trying to sound confident but not succeeding very well. But Sharona nodded her head and left. 


	3. Ch3

Monk suddenly felt very alone without Sharona and turned shakily towards the punk girls.  
  
"Follow us," the orange-haired girl said and she grabbed his shoulder. Monk flinched but allowed himself to be led to the side of the dance floor. They opened a door and brought him inside. They were now in a room that had plush multi-colored couches all around. The three girls plunked Monk down on a lime-green and white striped couch. Monk made a face at the sight of the hideous couch and inched forward until he was barely still sitting on it.  
  
"So what can you tell me?" He asked, unable to take his eyes off the couch.  
  
The girls smiled wickedly, "Well, we'll tell you but. . . first you have to pierce something."  
  
"WHAT??" Monk exclaimed, "Why would I have to do. . .that?" He shuddered at the thought of it. Needles. . . poking him.  
  
The orange-haired girl shrugged, "Well it'll be fun. We always like to have fun. Don't worry, we'll do it for you."  
  
Monk shook his head violently, "N-noooo. I don't think so. NEVER."  
  
"Well we can't tell you what we know then," they replied.  
  
"Why should piercing something be a requirement??" Monk protested.  
  
"C'mon it'll be a blast! What would you like done? Lip ring, tongue ring, nipple-?"  
  
"Ahhh!!! STOP!" Monk shielded his ears. Looking at the girls he realized they were never going to tell him anything unless he gave in. He really needed to get something on this case, as of now he had absolutely nothing.  
  
"No, no I can't." He repeated, "I will never pierce anything. . .EV-ER." He stressed the word out.  
  
"Oh alright," they replied disappointedly, "we'll just give you a fake one. How about in the cartiledge party pooper?"  
  
"Oh. . . where's that?" Monk asked looking slightly relieved.  
  
One of the girls pointed to the top of her ear, "Right here."  
  
Monk nodded slowly, "Well if it's fake. . . I guess so. Just get it over with."  
  
While they thoroughly sterilized the fake ring to Monk's satisfaction, they explained the information they had.  
  
"Well," the orange-haired girl began whose name was actually Tina, "That night, The Naked Puppet was on stage and we were just hanging out on the side of the dance floor when we noticed the door to this room" she said referring to the room they were in now, "and we were about to walk in when we overheard some people talking and we realized it was the opening act Wink 242. Well we were feeling kinda nosy and we decided to listen to what they were saying." She paused, "Ok, I'm slipping the ring on now."  
  
Monk cringed and gripped the chair he was in so tightly his knuckles started turning white, "Ok, give it to me."  
  
"I already did," Tina explained.  
  
"What? I didn't feel it."  
  
"You're not supposed to silly, it's fake. You should have seen Sheena here though when she had hers done for real. She cried like a baby."  
  
"I did not!" Sheena exclaimed, "I-I barely felt it."  
  
"So anyway," Tina continued, "We overheard Wink 242 saying how they weren't getting any popularity lately and they felt that The Naked Puppet was hogging all the spotlight on the tour. They sounded pretty desperate but that's all we got to hear because SOMEBODY" she glared at Sheena, "had to go and start sneezing all over the place."  
  
"Sorry for being born!" Sheena replied.  
  
"So, is that helpful to you?" Tina asked holding up a mirror so Monk could see his new 'piercing'.  
  
"Yes," Monk said looking deep in thought, "I think that will-AHH!" he yelled getting a glance at his fake earring, a shiny silver hoop.  
  
"I think it looks nice," Tina offered.  
  
"Kinda sexy," Sheena piped in.  
  
Monk made a face, "I. . . I don't think so."  
  
"No seriously, you should keep it on," Tina suggested.  
  
"Uh-right," Monk nodded thinking he would remove it as soon as he was out of their sight. "Uh, thank you, I think."  
  
"Anytime," they replied. "Give us a call if you want anything pierced for real," Sheena slipped him a card and winked at him.  
  
Monk swallowed, "Yeah. . . right." 


	4. Ch4

He turned a corner and suddenly felt lost. He couldn't remember where he was. He wished Sharona were with him, she always knew what to do.  
  
He opened a door and walked out into intensely bright light. He fumbled around and suddenly heard loud cheering and music.  
  
He realized he had walked out on stage! Right up to the edge in fact. He squinted looking in front of him, the crowd . . . it appeared was cheering for him to jump? He scrambled backwards and lost his footing as he tripped over amp wires. He fell right into the arms of the crowd. Luckily they caught him and he found himself flung on his back.  
  
"W-what's going on??" He yelped, "Put me down!. . .PLEASE?" He squeaked timidly.  
  
The crowd continued surfing him out further.  
  
Monk started shivering, all those hands touching him, all the germs. He screamed but everyone thought he was screaming for fun and shouted with him. Finally he reached the end of the crowd and they flung him down to the floor.  
  
He fell to his knees whimpering and when he stood up he saw Sharona standing in front of him.  
  
"Oh thank God!" He flung his arms around her in a tight hug, his cheek against her chest.  
  
"Adrian! Are you ok?" Sharona asked overwhelmed slightly that he was hugging her. He refused to pull away. "I told Stottlemeyer to come when I couldn't find you and - is that an earring??" She asked astonished as she stared at his ear.  
  
He reluctantly pulled away from her, "Um well. . . you see I was tricked into it and actually it's fake-"  
  
"I think it's. . ." Sharona paused as she searched for the right word, " SEXY. . . really sexy." She said eyeing him with a gaze he had seen her give other men before but. . .never HIM. He felt a flush in his cheeks as she stared him down. He liked the way she was looking at him. It was different but. . . he knew he wouldn't mind seeing THAT look more often.  
  
He smiled shyly, "Y-you like it? I was going to take it out."  
  
"Oh no, don't!" Sharona protested gently touching it.  
  
Monk felt a shiver go from his neck to his toes when she gently caressed his ear. "Hh. . . okay," he replied breathily.  
  
"You'll have to tell me the whole story later," Sharona grinned, "I'm anxious to know how THIS happened. . . and I," She shook her head, ". . . I thought I saw you crowd-surfing. . .?"  
  
"Um-yes. . .that might have been me," Monk replied looking down at the ground.  
  
"Well you always surprise me Adrian, anyways the Captain wants us to meet him outside."  
  
"Ok, I uh got a break in the case," Monk told her, "It turns out. . ." and he proceeded to explain to her about Wink 242's involvement.  
  
"Wow, good job," Sharona said as they walked to the doors. She put an arm around his broad shoulders, "Ya know, you really seem to be getting better these days. With your. . . . you know-"  
  
Monk nodded, "I know. My gift. . . curse."  
  
"Right." Sharona paused in front of the indoor ticket window. "I can't get over this earring," she said eyeing him again, "It really is a good look for you. Even if it is fake."  
  
Monk blushed.  
  
"Oh my gosh, did you just blush? Was that a blush I saw?" She asked amazed.  
  
"Of. . . of course not," Adrian replied embarrassed.  
  
Sharona moved in closer to him and Monk was instantly aware of it. He suddenly felt warm all over.  
  
"Do you uh. . . do you mind if I kiss you?" Sharona blurted out.  
  
"NO, of course not!" Monk said eagerly without thinking, "Wait uh a second. . . uh. . . I mean why?. . .and WHAT?" He asked astonished.  
  
"Well it's . . .it's just. . ." Sharona began with difficulty. Monk had never seen her act like this before and he was quite intrigued.  
  
"What?" He replied softly gazing into her blues.  
  
"It's just that-I feel like it's one of those moments where you just act so. . . HOT" she said with bravery, "and I feel like it might not happen again because you'll annoy me in the next two minutes probably and um I want to savor it and. . . you know, kiss you. If of course you wouldn't mind. Which you probably would because you freak out over something as little as shaking hands so uh. . . never mind then. . ." She trailed off.  
  
"But not yours, Sharona" he said and the husky low tone in his voice gave her chills.  
  
"What? You mean my hands?"  
  
"Yes. I don't flinch from your hands, nor do I need a wet wipe after holding them," he pointed out.  
  
Sharona blinked, "Oh yeah. That's true."  
  
"I wouldn't. . .uh mind, you know. To uh do what you said before."  
  
"Mind what?. . .Oh right! The kiss. Well. . . uh," she stared at him for a moment that she was having this kind of conversation with Adrian Monk. She just knew that this insanely loud music had gone to her head, making her crazy enough to request of all things, a KISS from Adrian.  
  
Surprisingly he took the initiative. He put an arm around her shoulders and tried to pull her in.  
  
"No. . .wait, that's not right," he pulled away and then put both arms around her in an embrace and tried again.  
  
"No, no that's not good either," he pulled back again feeling flustered. Sharona watched him with amusement.  
  
Monk thought for a moment.  
  
"Uh ok, I got it." He slipped a hand underneath her hair, behind her neck. Sharona drew in a sharp breath. Wow. His hand felt so good against her skin.  
  
He pulled her head gently towards his and kissed her softly. He quickly pulled away, pursing his lips together and looking off.  
  
"That. . . that was really nice Adrian." Sharona said feeling a little light-headed.  
  
He turned to face her, "Yeah. . . can . . .can I do it again?"  
  
Sharona's heart fluttered, "Um. . .ok."  
  
Adrian pulled her close again and this time he took his time, giving her the most beautiful kiss she had ever had. His lips melted into hers as they intensified the kiss more passionately.  
  
He felt so much for Sharona. She was. . . SO beautiful. She knew him inside and out. And she actually wanted to hang around him. She was a GEAT kisser as well.  
  
When they pulled away they both felt the air between them had changed.  
  
Monk slipped his hand in hers as she gave him a smile that melted him and he went to reach for the door handle when suddenly a group of four guys came up behind them and Sharona screamed as they roughly pulled her towards them. 


	5. Ch5

Monk turned around and saw the members of Wink 242 dragging Sharona off with them.  
  
"Adrian! Help me!" She cried as she disappeared into the crowd.  
  
"Sharona! SHARONA!!" Monk shouted, his heart tightening. The Captain entered from the outside looking worried that Sharona was taking so long.  
  
"Monk! What's going on?" he asked but Monk was already running after Sharona in the thickening crowd. The Captain, Randy and several uniformed officers rushed inside after them.  
  
Monk tried to keep them in sight but he quickly lost them. Darn those throngs of punk rockers. Their spiked jewelry stabbed him at least a dozen times as he rushed through. Going on a hunch, he figured they had taken her through one of the side doors.  
  
But which one?  
  
He stuck his nose up to the first door he saw. A girl wearing all black and bright purple eye shadow stared at him funny as she walked by.  
  
"What?" He said, "You're the one that looks weird." But she had already been swallowed into the crowd. He began sniffing for Sharona's scent of Elizabeth Arden's White Musk which she always wore.  
  
Not this door.  
  
He tried again. Yes! He smelled it faintly and burst through the door.  
  
A guy grabbed him as soon as he entered and he looked ahead to see Sharona passed out and slumped over in a chair. Monk felt his heart in anguish, "Sharona!" He couldn't bear to see her hurt.  
  
The guy behind him put a gun to his temple. Monk made a face; he couldn't help it, even in times of trouble he was worried about where that gun had been.  
  
"No wait Joey!" One of the guys standing next to Sharona said. "Let's kill her first and make him watch," he sneered.  
  
Monk started shaking, "No no! Don't TOUCH her!"  
  
"Whoa, hold it there Buddy," Joey tightened his grip on Monk.  
  
"Shoot me! Let her go. . . I'm not afraid of death, well not TOO afraid. . . well actually I am a little. It is about fourth on my list of things I'm afraid of. After you know germs and needles and-"  
  
"Dude! Shut up!" The guy across the room said shaking his head in disbelief.  
  
Joey started laughing, "What a character."  
  
Monk caught him off guard and elbowed Joey in the gut. He leaped across the room towards Sharona. Shots rang out.  
  
Suddenly, the door was forced open by a crowd of blue uniforms.  
  
"Nobody move!" Stottlemeyer shouted.  
  
"Captain, get Sharona!" Monk yelled.  
  
The police quickly rounded up the band members and Monk raced over to Sharona.  
  
"Is. . . is she ok?" he asked close to tears.  
  
"Yes, she's just got a bump on the head. Oh, here, she's waking up," The Capt. said and he and Monk pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Sharona, Sharona, are you ok?" Monk brushed her hair back from her face.  
  
"Oh Adrian!" Sharona couldn't help but start sobbing, "I was so scared! But then you came after me . . . and I found that very odd" she added in thought.  
  
"Of course, I had to. I'd never leave you. Even though I worry about germs, I worry about YOU more." Monk pulled her close to his chest.  
  
At this she reached up to him and kissed him passionately for several long moments.  
  
Randy and the Captain shifted uncomfortably.  
  
Still no signs of them stopping.  
  
Randy pulled out a stopwatch.  
  
Finally they pulled apart and Sharona whispered sexily to Monk, "I'll thank you more later."  
  
Monk's eyes widened.  
  
The Captain and Randy exchanged horrified glances after overhearing this.  
  
Feeling lightheaded, Monk walked Sharona to the front entrance; she leaned on him the while way.  
  
"C'mon let's get outta here," Stottlemeyer muttered, "This music's giving me a headache. Musta been hell for you Monk."  
  
Monk smiled, grateful for the empathy.  
  
Outside, Monk explained the story, "Wink 242 was jealous of The Naked Puppet's fame. So they had the idea that if they started murdering a person every show while The Naked Puppet was playing, their popularity would dwindle because everyone would be too afraid to come to their shows and then Wink 242 could take over the tour. They randomly selected Marvin Sneeds for their first murder but they purposely were going to select Sharona and me for their next attack because I had found out what they were up to."  
  
"Good work Monk," Stottlemeyer nodded, "that badge of yours is looking closer all the time."  
  
Monk beamed at him.  
  
"And. . ." Stottlemeyer paused, "What . . . is that what I think it is in . . . no I must be mistaken. I think it's a trick of the light . . . that can't be an-earring?"  
  
Monk blushed, "Um well I meant to take that out and I uh-"  
  
"Hey!" The Capt. threw his hands up, "It's your business, not mine. Whatever you want to do with your . . ." he stifled a chuckle, " your ear is uh fine with me. Nice look though."  
  
Monk made a face.  
  
"No uh really. It is. Very uh hip for you, Monk. By the way. . . what's going on between you and Sharona?"  
  
Monk walked over to where she was waiting and took her hand in his, "Nothing that wasn't already there." He said over his shoulder. Sharona smiled up at him and they walked out.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
"I feel like driving," he said to her once they'd gone outside.  
  
"Well that's great," she replied, "But you ain't driving my car."  
  
"Oh come on. I'll be careful," he protested.  
  
"Yeah, your "careful" last time got me a busted headlight. I don't think so."  
  
Monk didn't reply.  
  
"Oh no you don't, you're not giving me the Adrian sad-faced look. You're just going to get in the car and I'M going to drive us home," she ordered.  
  
"Can I beep the horn?" He asked.  
  
"Maybe," she replied grinning.  
  
"Well. . . ok then. . . maybe you know after we clean it with a wet wipe. . .at least once or twice and-"  
  
"Adrian?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Shut up and get in the car," Sharona glared at him.  
  
"Um. . . yes your highness." He smiled at her and obediently got in.  
  
THE END 


End file.
